It broke ground on a new gigafab facility — Fab 15 in Greater Taichung — in July 2010 and started producing 28-nanometer products for customers in the third quarter of last year.

TSMC said its board also agreed to earmark US$209.5 million for advanced technology and research and development for next year, according to the statement.

In addition, the board yesterday approved a proposal to issue unsecured corporate bonds in Taiwan, for an amount not exceeding NT$45 billion (US$1.53 billion), to help fund its production capacity, the statement said.

The planned bond sale comes as the chipmaker is stepping up capital spending on new technologies to safeguard its market leadership.

Last month, TSMC said it planned to maintain its capital spending next year at a record high of US$8.3 billion in view of rising demand for the company’s advanced chips used mainly in smartphones and tablets.

During yesterday’s meeting, the board also approved TSMC’s share subscription plans for two of its green energy subsidiaries next year.

The chipmaker will buy NT$1.24 billion of new shares in TSMC Solid State Lighting Ltd (台積固態照明) and NT$636 million of new shares in TSMC Solar Ltd (台積太陽能), the statement said.

TSMC set up the subsidiaries last year as part of its effort to supplement the growth of its chipmaking business.